How much does a single generator cost?
Each generator takes a considerable amount of time and effort before going online. It starts with finding the right source material, which often means planning my own recording sessions. When recording the real source is not an option (e.g. the propellers of a B-17 bomber), I need time to think about workarounds and try them out. Looking for sounds available in the public domain is possible, but often, sound quality is an issue. Licensing sounds represents the last option, but at a cost. Often, recording my own tracks offers the highest flexibility and audio quality. Plus, I simply love recording my own sounds!
Once the sounds have been found, all this raw material needs to be carefully reviewed, trimmed, edited and processed: background noise is often an issue (sounds a bit ironic for a site like myNoise, doesn't it?). Only then, can I split the audio into separate tracks, and build a first prototype. At this stage, it's a discovery: hours have been spent refining the individual tracks, and now I can hear them as a whole. It is often disappointing, because it sounds only as the sum of individual tracks. Then starts a long back-and-forth procedure, working on the individual tracks again, and loading them all into the prototype, until the alchemy finally works: the soundscape transcends the sum of its parts. Although the sound itself is made from many layers, it suddenly behaves as one single, almost living, sonic entity. However, sometimes, the whole generator gets trashed half-way, out of discouragement.
When the results are worth keeping, I am not there yet: each track is .mp3 (and .ogg) encoded by ear, in order to guarantee the best sonic results with the lowest bandwidth (think about the costs at my provider’s side, and the loading times at yours). I need to work on the introductory text - which takes quite a bit of time as I am not a native English speaker - and while it's being proofread by a professional service, I can work on designing the presets in the meanwhile. Oh, and I forgot the most important thing: I can spend a couple of hours just finding the right background image, for each generator, an inspiring image that needs to be cleared for online publication, too!
And then I have to maintain the website, purchase CDN bandwidth, answer numerous emails, plan sampling sessions, invest in audio recording equipment and audio processing software, etc.
If there wasn't passion behind all of this, I would not have started it. To do this to make a living, I would probably have to charge $500-$3,000 a generator, depending upon its complexity and the cost to acquire the associated source material. As for the amount of time involved, it can take a couple of hours at best (White Noise) up to a couple of days (Aeternitas).
Even with passion, I cannot go against the laws of this modern world: each generator takes time; time is money and I have to feed the family. Therefore, donations are truly important to keep this site alive. Thank you! ♥
